Seawitch (Greywalker #7 ) by Kit Richardson
Urban Fantasy
August 7, 2012
Roc
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “Welcome to the freak show. “
Seawitch, the seventh installment in Richardson’s Greywalker series, pits magic against good old police skills in a swashbuckling seafaring adventure when Harper Blaine teams up with a Seattle police detective to investigate a decades old mystery. When a boat (the Seawitch) that has been missing for 27 years suddenly turns up, abandoned in its slip, the insurance company calls in Harper Blaine to investigate. They need to know where the boat has been and what happened to the passengers on board. Seattle Police Detective Rey Solis is also on hand to investigate the whereabouts of the passengers. Harper finds herself having to trust the taciturn detective with her secrets once it becomes apparent that the Seawitch and its passengers were the victims of of a deadly curse. A curse that it is not finished claiming its victims.
Harper’s and Rey’s joint investigation takes them deep into the past where sea legends and myths become reality when they learn that the bewitched Seawitch may have been built out of another doomed ship’s parts and at least one of the passengers from the Seawitch is alive, well, and hasn’t aged a day in 27 years. Harper and Rey have to find what connects the two cursed boats to a woman who, by all accounts, should be dead.
Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series continues to be an engaging investigative urban fantasy saga; pitting ghosts, demons, and other paranormal entities against Harper Blaine-P.I. extraordinaire and Greywalker. Dark and fluid, the storyline flows through you at a smooth and easy pace. Full of suspense and intrigue, Ms Richardson tells the story from Harper’s POV, leaving you and her to follow a twisting path to discover the truth. This is a noir urban fantasy with a complex low key protagonist whose hair raising mysteries will make you a fan.
Harper Blaine became a Greywalker, Paladin to the Dead, when she died for a few seconds at the hands of a mad man. With each subsequent death she suffers, she finds herself settling further and further into the grey area that exists between life and death. Now she is able to see, feel, and interact with the undead. This leads to some unique situations for Blaine as there are not many who know of her gifts. Throughout the series, we have watched Harper grow professionally and personally. While she is slowly learning to let down her walls and allow people into her life she is still having trouble learning how to be a friend. She tends to use people around her for help and in this installment, that is brought to her attention. While I enjoy the supernatural aspects, I like that our heroine isn’t a superhero. She doesn’t have phenomenal super powers that get her out of every scrape. She falters, makes bad decisions, and fails just like the rest of us.
The romance in the story is comfortable, like an old favorite sweater. Not an integral part of the plot, its storyline is used to personalize Harper and enable us to see the private areas of her life. Quentin, Harper’s boyfriend, is a male version of Harper though more empathetic. Though a loner like her, he is able to adapt to the nuances of life better. There is a minor subplot involving Quentin that looks to bring some promising intrigue to future storylines.
The contributing characters are extremely complex in nature and personality, yet easy to relate to. Some add to the overall bleakness of the landscape while others are shining lights illuminating the story. We learn more about the supernatural entities that inhabit Harper’s world. Everyone has their own agenda and their background stories that add depth and some humor to the story, which was appreciated.
The ending is climatic affair that wraps everything up tidily while leaving an opening for book 7. Ms. Richardson’s Greywalker series is a must read for those who appreciate an entertaining dark urban fantasy that will appeal to paranormal and mystery lovers alike.
Overall Rating: B
Recent Reviews:
All Things Urban Fantasy – 3/5
I Smell Sheep – 4/5
Goodreads
Author’s Website l Series Listing
This kind of makes me want to try book 1
Its a good series. I enjoy the investigative bent in here.
I love this series and I like how it’s straight up UF. Thanks for the review, I’m now off to check if our library has this yet.
Great review, I still have to start this series, but I will do it one day. I have the first book gathering dust on my shelves.
Excellent addition to the Greywalker series. This is one of my favorite urban fantasies. Good mystery with paranormal twist typical of Kat Richardson. It’s dark and original.